My clearcoat is blistering!!!

flashburn

So about a day after I picked up my car (from a dealer about 120 miles away), I noticed some sort of imperfections with the clearcoat. They are very small, most of them under 1/4", ranging in different shapes, but hard to see unless the light is hitting it just right.

I immediately called the dealer I bought it from, and they were basically like "bring it back to us so we can look at it". Before I took that route, I decided to take it to a local dealer and see what they thought. Almost immediately after they noticed it, they said that it was tree sap, and that a claybar and wax would take care of it. I took it home, clay bared and wax a portion of it, and saw no improvement.

Then I took it to another dealer and they looked at it for a much longer time. They used some sort of microscope to look at the paint. Finally they thought that it was either hard water stains, or that something was eating at the clearcoat, or both, and that basically I'd have to get the original dealer to service it.

Finally, I took it back to the dealer and had the service manager there look at it. They took it back, and circled all the spots, probably about 20-30 of them throughout the hood, roof, and back areas, that they could see at least. He said that it looked like the clearcoat is blistering, and of course eventually those blisters will pop and then it will spread. The next step he said was that he needed to contact this Nissan paint engineer of some sort from out of state, and try to get him some pictures and explain to him what it looked like, so they could decide on what exactly is the problem, and what the solution might be.

The service manager said that if it is blistering (which he thinks it is), then the only way to fix it would be to completely sand down the car and repaint and reclearcoat it. Right now, I am still waiting for him to find out from this paint guy whether he needs more pictures, or is going to send someone to diagnose the problem. It's been almost a week since I brought it to them, and nothing much has happened.

I called Nissan corporate on Friday to open up some sort of report about this, and hopefully get a quicker resolution. They had a regional service rep call on Monday, he left a message basically saying that he was going to contact the dealer and then would call me back Wednesday.

This entire thing has been a huge pain in the *** and a headache for me. I wanted to get a clearbra installed on the entire front end of the car, but I of course can't until this is resolved. In the mean time, my front bumper probably has gotten about 10 rock chips/knicks on it.

Anyway, just looking for anyone's thoughts or opinions about this. Hopefully I will know more tomorrow. I'm really just afraid of having to have the entire car repainted. Should I be? Should that even be an acceptable solution? I'd share pictures if I could, but they are so hard to see, I would need a better camera in order for them to be seen.

nicknick

Chips in your bumper? don't drive so close to the car in fronmt of you

flashburn

nicknick

don't shake your head, just try it, worked for me.

Trips

Wow flashburn, I have not heard of this before I hope your dealer does the right thing and fixes it.

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One_Quick_Z

I have noticed some "Hard Water" spots on my spoiler only under certain light, But I have Polished it and clay barred it and waxed and sealed it and the marks are still there maybe I am experiencing the same thing you are?



DAN

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flashburn

Maybe, although the service manager claimed there aren't usually blistering issues on the plastic, just the metal.

flashburn

Maybe this works for you, but it doesn't for me. I drive 60 highway miles a day, so the chance of something hitting me is pretty high. If I stay too far back (more than 5-6 car lengths) then I would just get cut off constantly which would then limit my car lengths anyway. The joys of highway driving. Not to mention the roads are **** around here, one of the highways I take is under construction.

flashburn

So can anyone comment on whether or not repainting the car should be an acceptable solution? I heard that doing that lowers the resale value of the car and that the dealer is not going to be able to paint a car as good as it comes from the factory.

370Zsteve

"So about a day after I picked up my car (from a dealer about 120 miles away), I noticed some sort of imperfections with the clearcoat. They are very small, most of them under 1/4", ranging in different shapes, but hard to see unless the light is hitting it just right."

No way will a repaint help you.

I would demand an immediate replacement for the car. No ifs, ands or buts.

If you do not get immediate satisfaction, contact NissanUSA directly. Make the biggest stink you possibly can, look into local lemon laws, scream fkin bloody murder. the condition of your car is bullsh!t. Take digital photos. Threaten the dealer with a lawsuit if they try to weasel.

Your dealer will not lose one dime. This is Nissan's problem. The car probably was damaged in transit.

Good luck. Don't back down, don't wimp out.

Always take time, a lot of time, inspecting a vehicle before you sign the papers. That includes a couple of miles in the car, with your salesperson, to check for any mechanical issues.

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SOLD MY Z MARCH 2018 - another Core OG moves on - new ride 2019 Z Corvette Grand Sport - no mods necessary but already have eyes on HFC and intakes LOL IT NEVER ENDS.

flashburn

Thanks for your thoughts on this Steve. That was going to be my plan if repainting is going to be their solution, but I wanted to see what other people thought before. The only problem is finding an identical match for this car. The regional service rep is supposed to call me today, so I will push on them that repainting the car is a unacceptable solution. Of course the only problem is, I've yet to be able to get someone to actually diagnose the damn problem, so I that is going to be my main focus right now.

370Zsteve

Diagnose? Noooooooooooooooo. You are not being "pissed off" enough. Screw the diagnosis, the patient is beyond help.

Sorry to sound like a prick...it's just that if this was my car I'd be going absolutely batshit. The dealer would be scared to death of me.

The longer you wait for things like a diagnosis, the less chance you have of getting a new car. Right now, the fact that this car is only a couple of days old is your "ace in the hole". Don't let that advantage slip away.

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SOLD MY Z MARCH 2018 - another Core OG moves on - new ride 2019 Z Corvette Grand Sport - no mods necessary but already have eyes on HFC and intakes LOL IT NEVER ENDS.

kenchan

definitely a manufacturing problem unless it was painted (repaired) at the US dock when it arrived US shores and was fixed improperly.

regardless it's a warranty issue...i would've taken it back to the dealer and demanded a new car right then and there. dont wait.

kannibul

Having ugly paint lowers the value more than having it repainted...properly.

flashburn

Obviously. There is no option of me not getting this resolved one way or another. When I speak to Nissan Corporate today I am going to push hard that the only acceptable resolution is a new car. It's a shame really, cause I love the car except for the damn paint/clearcoat issue!